Today's Family & Kids Activities in Westchester-Dec 10

December 10, 2013
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There's so much to do in Westchester! Take a look below at today's events. Whether your child is a fan of animals, art, museums, or the great outdoors, we've got something for your family. Looking ahead to the weekend or some vacation time? Check out the NY Metro Parents' calendar!!

Nancie Schnur's program uses puppets and songs, both traditional and original, to bring music and fun to toddlers ages 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 and their caregivers. Nancie knows how to keep toddlers singing and dancing along with the fun! No registration required. Please call the library to confirm time.

The tri-state area's youngest LEGO enthusiasts can enjoy special activities during Tot Tuesdays. Tot Tuesdays will take place every Tuesday, from 10am-2pm, at Ridge Hill in Yonkers. Little LEGO lovers and their parents can experience the attraction and enjoy events tailored for them.
Guests will also get to enjoy the attraction's range of interactive experiences, including its 4D cinema, two LEGO amusement rides and MINILAND, the venue's signature re-creation of landmark locations and buildings throughout Westchester County and New York City, made entirely out of LEGO bricks. Free Wi-Fi will be available for parents at the attraction.
LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester is a $12 million, 32,300-square-foot indoor attraction featuring more than 3 million LEGO bricks, geared towards children ages 3-10 and their families. Its range of educational and interactive attractions will include hands-on play areas, a 4D cinema, master classes led by Master Model Builders, two LEGO amusement rides, special party rooms, and MINILAND. To purchase tickets and annual passes, or for more information, visit legolanddiscoverycenter.com/westchester.

A once-monthly, family-oriented program for children of any age who have trouble sitting still. Friends and family welcome. The interactive sessions include stories, music, songs, movement, crafts, and more. Please register for this event by calling, emailing keelerlibrary@wlsmail.org, or going to the library. Visit the library website for more details.

Crafternoons - space to make and create for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Create designs and paint them on small clay dishes. These colorful little bowls will be original, beautiful, and ideal gifts for collecting jewelry, coins, paperclips, etc.

Work with wood and make a special desk organizer for that busy person in your life. This handsome desk accessory will hold pencils, pens, paper clips and serve as a paperweight. Personalize the gift item with your own unique decorations. Limited space. Register for this activity at the Welcome Desk.

"Brighter Days," an exhibition of paintings by South Salem artist Suzan Waldinger, will open on Saturday, September 21, at The Gallery in the Park at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Cross River.
Ms. Waldinger, a full-time artist whose favored medium is acrylic, creates vividly colorful images in the contemporary expressionist style using a technique known as impasto, in which the artist squeezes thick paint from the tube onto the canvas and uses various tools to create pleasing effects. Her art is free-wheeling, sometimes whimsical, and illustrates her strong attraction to color and texture.
The exhibition will be on view daily, 9am-4pm, through Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013.
Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is a Westchester County park located at the junction of Routes 35 and 121 South in Cross River.
For more information, go to westchestergov.com/parks or call 914-864-7317.

A sparkling celebration of the season! A series of brilliant evening events featuring thousands of lights and candles, luminous displays, and festive holiday happenings around the gardens and grounds of Boscobel. Take a Twilight Tour, walk the candlelit paths with a hot cup of cocoa, and celebrate the season with family and friends. Enjoy ice-carving demonstrations, live period music, and Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus will be in the Sparkle Garden...children can whisper their wishes and pose for a photo. Bring a camera! Dec. 6-7, 13-14, and 20-21. View the full schedule of events at boscobel.org/events-and-exhibitions/calendar-of-events/december. Event takes place snow, rain, or shine.

You never know when you might catch a snowman dancing in the light gallery or a penguin sock skating in the Celebration Courtyard. Keep an eye out for a variety of festive frolicking friends. December 3-December 21, 2013.

Grand Central Terminal turned 100 this year! To celebrate New York City's only indoor holiday market is pulling out all the stops with 76 vendors offering a wide array of gifts for all of your loved ones.

Fondue dining allows everyone to enjoy good conversation, eat slowly, and savor each bite. Parents can enjoy three-course meal (salad, entree, and chocolate), and kids under 14 can have two courses (entree and chocolate), all for a fixed price every Sunday in December from 12-4pm. Visit meltingpot.com/white-plains/specials for details.

The Center for Literacy Enrichment - Pace University is offering a new Homework Helper Program four days a week, Mondays-Thursdays, from 3-6pm for students in grades 1-12. Certified teachers are available to help children tackle their assignments in all subjects, including complex concepts in Math and Science. The cost is $5 per session or $70 for unlimited monthly sessions. The Center is located at 78 N. Broadway, White Plains, NY. For more information, contact 914-422-4135 or mdelany@pace.edu.

Yoga is all about being the best you can be physically, mentally, and spiritually. Classes held outdoors (in case of inclement weather, class held indoors). Bring your own mat. Call for more information and multi-class discount. Mondays, Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 at 7pm; Fridays, Dec. 6, 13, 20, and 27 at 9am; Saturdays Dec. 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 9am.

On select dates in December, Santa Claus will join The Maritime Aquarium's dive team to demonstrate that sharks aren't the blood-thirsty killers of myth. Santa will strap on scuba gear and enter the Aquarium's 110,000-gallon "Ocean Beyond the Sound" exhibit, which is home to 7-foot sand tiger and lemon sharks. It's all part of the regular dive-team program, in which Aquarium visitors can see ? and talk with ? divers swimming in the exhibit on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Check the Aquarium's website for specific dates when Santa can pull himself away from the North Pole and exchange his snow boots for swim flippers. Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays December 1-December 31, 2013. Check the website to confirm dates.

An excellent introduction to wolves for families with young children. Kids learn about the mythology surrounding wolves and the important role of wolves in the natural world. Guests will visit Ambassador wolves Atka, Alawa, and Zephyr, as well as the center's other endangered wolves. Don't forget a camera. Pre-registration required. Dec. 1, 7, 15, 22, 28, and 30 at 11am; Dec. 26 at 2pm.

A collection of the hand-made by local, national, and international crafts artists will be for sale in time for the holiday season at Pelham Art Center's annual exhibition, Craft-Tastic.
The exhibition will run from Nov. 22, 2013 through Jan. 4, 2014. This year's exhibition will feature functional, wearable, and decorative crafts, ranging in price, scale, and materials, by over 20 artists.
Crafts from the United States will include beautiful and unique jewelry and metal work from Brooklyn, Chicago, and nearby Tarrytown. Felted hats and fascinators will be for sale by a local Pelham milliner. Sculptural and functional, both thrown and slip cast, ceramics from as far away as Colorado and as close as New Rochelle will be shown. Pelham Art Center will also be exhibiting original glass work, hand-sewn, and knitted items, furniture, and sculptural objects.
Zori slippers, felt flowers, rubber-band bracelets, and recycled plastic bags purses, all made in Cambodia, will be on sale as a fundraiser for the Somaly Mam Foundation (somaly.org), a nonprofit organization committed to ending modern slavery and empowering its survivors as part of the solution. Pelham Art Center is also supporting Fair Trade felted crafts made by women entrepreneurs located in Central Asia. With the help of US-based partnerships, the sale of these hand-felted ornaments, bowls, and rugs assist in bringing economic sustainability to their communities.
Craft-Tastic exposes viewers to the vibrant world of the hand-made while expanding upon the vocabulary of traditional craft materials and techniques. The exhibition also touches on the idea of how craft continues to be a viable source of income for artists and communities in addition to a method of artistic expression throughout the world. Craft-Tastic is curated by Gail Heidel.
Artists will include: Cheryl Bryant (NJ), Andrew Coombs (SC), Craftspring (Fair Trade), Erin S. Daily (NY), Stephen Eakin (NY), Heather Mae Erickson (CO), Doug Frati (ME), MaryLouise Gladstone (NY), Layne Gregory (ME) , Kathryn Fenstermaker (TN), Mamie Kanfer (NY), Maia Leppo (NY), Leigh Taylor Mickelson (NY), Sana Musasama (NY), Susan Saas (NY), Amy Santoferraro (KS), Leslie Silk-Champagne (NH), Kristi Sword (NY), Judith Weber (NY), and Brian Weissman (NY).

Make your days merry and bright by warming to an unforgettable tap-dancing delight! Based on the beloved, timeless film, this heartwarming musical adaptation features seventeen Irving Berlin songs. Veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis have a successful song-and-dance act after World War II. With romance in mind, the two follow a duo of beautiful singing sisters en route to their Christmas show at a Vermont lodge, which just happens to be owned by Bob and Phil's former army commander. The dazzling score features well known standards including "Blue Skies," "I Love A Piano," "How Deep Is the Ocean," and the perennial favorite, "White Christmas," that will fill you with the joy of the season.
Through January 5, 2014.

Designer Bob Pesce gives a contemporary interpretation of Victorian holiday splendor in Glenview's parlor, sitting room, library, dining room, and great hall. From Nov. 29 through Jan. 5, 2014, see the floor-to-ceiling tree in the parlor; Coalport porcelain plates and green-engraved Bristol glassware on the dining table; and in the sitting room, the place for casual celebrations, see a table-top tree, the earliest type of fir tree brought to England for indoor display, which delighted Queen Victoria. Victorian toys from the collection -- including a doll, sled, and building blocks -- beloved long before the iPhone or even Barbie, are on display. Nybelwyck Hall, in its special room in Glenview, is also decked out in green and red. This 24-room dollhouse is reminiscent of Hudson Valley manors.

Jon Lovitch is a chef and the creator of GingerBread Lane, an annual display of homemade and handmade gingerbread houses that he drafts, designs, bakes, plans, builds, and decorates for an entire year. This season will be its 20th.
The concept for Gingerbread Lane changes each year, depending on what Lovitch has seen at gingerbread competitions, in magazines, at holiday displays, sometimes even drawing ideas from houses he spots while driving.
Lovitch purchases the materials after the holiday season, and begins designing and constructing the exhibit by March. All work is completed by late October and reviewed for detail until the exhibit begins. Beginning in November, Lovitch works between 80 and 90 hours for the final three weeks before GingerBread Lane opens for display. Each gingerbread house requires approximately three hours to complete and many of the complicated projects within the village require upwards of 35 hours. Each annual GBL takes about 1500 hours to make.
GBL is made from only "real" edible ingredients: gingerbread, royal icing, and candy. In contrast, other gingerbread competitors use dried pasta, uncooked rice and beans, and edible clay, among other ingredients. This year, GBL uses both gingerbread bricks and candy bricks for the structures.
The 2013 GBL weighs more than 1.5 tons, covers a continuous surface of nearly 300 square feet and is 11 feet high at its highest point. It will be competing for a Guinness World Record for largest gingerbread exhibit, and will be the largest GBL ever.
While the layout and composition change yearly, GBL always includes Eggnog Bay, Gum Drop Row, Peppermint Central Park, Candy Cane Place, and Toffee Boulevard. New this year is Ribbon Candy Ridge and a "behind-the-scenes" window, giving a peek into the makings of GBL with ovens, models, and ingredients...made entirely from royal icing. Five two-foot-high nutcrackers, also made of royal icing, stand guard over the back of the exhibit.
This year's village includes an estimated 1750 lbs. of icing, 400 lbs. of candy, and 500 lbs. of gingerbread dough; and comprises 152 gingerbread houses, 65 trees, four gingerbread cable cars, five gingerbread train cars, an underground candy subway station, candy trees, and sugar signage.
GingerBread Lane always sits out in the open, rather than behind glass, a fact that can really be appreciated when one smells the homemade gingerbread.
All gingerbread structures are given away free on the last day of the exhibit. Since December 2000, GingerBread Lane has also hosted annual workshops for families and after-school programs for children. Each year, Lovitch works with underprivileged and disabled children by shipping GingerBread Lane pieces across the country for those unable to view the display.
gingerbread-lane.org; Twitter: @GingerBreadLane; Facebook: GingerBread Lane, #gingerbreadlane.

The Holiday Train Show is back with plenty of holiday fun and new surprises for the whole family! This year features more trains than ever before, and a new holiday dining experience inspired by the historic streets of New York.
Marvel at model trains zipping around New York landmark replicas made of plant parts such as nuts, bark, and leaves. The Artist's Studio provides an insider's look at how the building replicas are constructed and - new this year - features a showcase of unique and historic model trains.
Explore the exhibition in the warmth of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, enjoy hands-on holiday fun for the entire family, and get your holiday shopping done too...it's a whole day of fun!

Dresses and costumes from the Downton Abbey era from the New Castle Historical Society's extensive costume collection. Appointments for tours at other times than those mentioned can be arranged by calling 914-238-4666 or visiting the website.

This film invites the audience to follow along with a daring team of "storm chasers" as they work to understand the origins and evolution of tornadoes. Sean Casey, star of the Discovery Channel's "Storm Chasers" reality series, leads this mission to document one of Earth's most awe-inspiring events - the birth of a tornado.

The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 assured the Hudson River a vital role in the evolution of what would become New York City into the nation's industrial and financial powerhouse - its "Empire City." The same year, artist Thomas Cole was "discovered," setting in motion a tradition of painting that transformed American art, much as the Erie Canal was rapidly transforming the landscape. For the most part, artists ignored the industrialization of the region; Cole was a strong proponent of the British traditions of the sublime and the beautiful, and his melding of these romantic ideals to direct observation of nature became the mainstay of American landscape in the mid-19th century.
The ideal expressed in thousands of Hudson River School canvases from the 1820s through the turn of the century constituted a moving vocabulary many artists clung to, even decades after the reality of the landscape had changed. It was not until the first decade of the 20th century, as artists like Robert Henri and John Sloan turned their attention to the urban scene, that American art shifted its focus from bucolic landscapes to the cities, the towns, and the crowds, especially the raucous urban scene of Manhattan - by then the nation's most important metropolis.
The movement away from painting the land to painting the life on the street is often seen as a clean break with the depiction of the landscape, and with landscape painting generally as a mainstay of American art in the face of European Modernism. However, artists continued to paint the Hudson River, as well as its tributaries, the Harlem and East Rivers, and the great harbor of New York City into which they flowed. What was different was their approach. Having jettisoned the romantic ideals of their forebears, artists like Henri and Sloan, and later, Georgia O'Keeffe, George Ault, Edward Hopper, and Preston Dickinson, celebrated the changing way of life along the city's waterfront. As the century progressed, they did so with sharper focus and with ideals borrowed from the Machine Age. Instead of majestic mountain ranges, their subjects were the arching bridges, swinging cranes, and streamlined ocean liners resting in the harbor. Artists took the elements of the Sublime, combined them with Modernism's interest in structure and form, and applied them to the manmade industrial one - thereby creating a new visual vocabulary for the 20th century - the Industrial Sublime.
"Industrial Sublime," the exhibition, takes as its focus the shift in both style and sensibility during the years 1900 to 1940, and explores the development of a new mode of landscape painting and pictorial ideals suited to America's role as a global industrial power.
Museums lending works to the exhibition of more than 60 paintings include The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; The Art Institute of Chicago; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute; High Museum of Art; Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale; Georgia Museum of Art; The New-York Historical Society; Museum of the City of New York; Newark Museum; the Phillips Collection; Flint Institute of Arts; Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Norton Museum of Art.
The exhibition, accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, is co-curated by Kirsten Jensen, Curator, Hudson River Museum and Bartholomew F. Bland, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Hudson River Museum. Additional essayists for the publication include Wendy Greenhouse, co-author of "Chicago Modern 1893-1945: Pursuit of the New;" Katherine E. Manthorne, professor of modern art of the Americas, Graduate Center, City University of New York; and Ellen E. Roberts, Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Curator of American Art, Norton Museum of Art.
"Industrial Sublime: Modernism and the Transformation of New York's Rivers, 1900-1940" is the fifth exhibition in the Hudson River Museum series, "The Visitor In the Landscape."
The exhibition will travel to the Norton Museum of Art, March 20-June 22, 2014.
The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue have been made possible by a generous grant from the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Inc. The exhibition catalogue is supported, in part, by Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.
On view through January 17, 2014.

Enjoy a display of imaginative handcrafted lighthouses ? and then vote for your favorite. Your votes determine the winners of this exhibit, which will present 24 large model lighthouses throughout the aquarium galleries. The lighthouses will be the creations of regional artists, crafts people and just folks with an idea. Some entries come in as scale models of real lighthouses. Others will be wildly creative. The lighthouse that gets the most visitor votes will win $1,500. Other prizes to be announced in a special evening reception on Jan. 23 are: $750 for second place, $375 for third; $300 for fourth; $225 for fifth; and $150 for sixth.
Lighthouses must be 3 to 6 feet tall and have a working light ? Beyond that, it's up to the creators' imaginations. (Prohibited are animal remains, including shells.) November 16-January 20, 2014.

The curatorial staff of the Katonah Museum of Art is developing an exhibition of portraiture that will represent diverse cultures and span more than 3,000 years of history and art. "Eye to I...3,000 years of Portraits" is not intended as an encyclopedic account of portraiture; rather, it will use portraits to explore the myriad ways that individuals look at and understand imagery. Each of the 60 portraits on display will offer interpretive copy from a range of individuals - scholars, teachers, actors, doctors, politicians, art collectors, and community members - explicating the work from their personal perspective. Visitors will be invited to add their own responses as well.
The conceptual framework for this show is based on the premise that in art, as in life, there is no single piece with a meaning that is objective, value-neutral, or accessible to all. The importance assigned to an art object corresponds to the viewers' perspectives, which vary according to language, culture, socialization, education, and other aspects of their personal histories. The portrait genre in particular presents multiple layers of interpretation and represents a broad sampling of eras, media, and artistic periods.
The earliest works on display will be a carved Egyptian bust of Amenhotep III, dating from 1,500 BC, and a marble sculpture of a Roman priest (AD 125). From there, the exhibition moves forward to feature portraits from Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America to contemporary American artists who create portraits in astounding ways. The artists included are Diane Arbus, Chuck Close, John Singleton Copley, Gustave Courbet, Edward Curtis, Eric Fischl, Felix Gonzales-Torres, Duane Hanson, Oliver Herring, Byron Kim, Vik Muniz, Alice Neel, Shirin Neshat, Julian Opie, Pablo Picasso, Gordon Parks, Martin Schoeller, Cindy Sherman, Auguste Rodin, Edouard Vuillard, Andy Warhol, and Kehinde Wiley, among others.
On view Oct. 27, 2013 through Feb. 16, 2014. Museum hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays: 10am-5pm; Sundays: 12-5pm. Closed Mondays.

This popular annual model railroad exhibition features a multi-track layout and limited edition miniature replica of Grand Central inspired by the Terminal's 100-year history. This year's show is accompanied by displays of charming vintage model trains from the Museum's collection depicting notable train cars from railroading's past. Shop the Transit Museum Store for great Grand Central and subway gifts. Explore Grand Central with the Transit Museum's kid-sized scavenger hunts—just ask at the cash-wrap!

Pick up a copy of the new Winter Farm Bingo in the Bendel Mansion Museum Building and visit Heckscher Farm to see how the animals adapt to winter. Find five in a row to make BINGO and turn your sheet into our Front Desk for a prize. December 1-February 28, 2014.

Found in estuaries around the world, oysters are a favored delicacy for humans and play a valuable role in ecosystems and economies. These unassuming mollusks have sustained Native Americans, cleaned polluted harbors, provided critical habitat, and created waterside cultures. Explore the science and natural history of oysters, particularly the Long Island Sound's native Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. November 2 - March 23, 2014.

An exciting dual holiday exhibit ("Hats Off to the Holidays" and "Toys Our Parents Played With") featuring vintage toys, and hats used as the settings for miniature scenes. Many of the toys may be from your own childhood, so be sure to point them out to the younger generation and reminisce over the fun you had playing with them.
Note how most of the toys on display do not have batteries and many are home made. Kids didn't need "store bought" toys or technology to have fun.
The Hat scenes were created by the nationally known miniature artist, Carole Pruzan, and husband Neal.
Explore the museum's five permanent exhibit rooms, gift shop, and research library
Hours are Sat. 1-4pm & Tue and Thur. 11- 4 pm and by appointment.
Visit yorktownmuseum.org for more information.
On display Dec, 7, 2013 through March 29, 2014.

No other modern animal may command both fear and fascination as much as the great white shark ? but The Maritime Aquarium's new IMAX?film suggests, instead, that these predators mainly need help and respect. This film unravels the mystery of the creature by telling the true story of its role atop the oceanic food chain. "Our mission is to change people's attitudes toward the great white," said Steve McNicholas, co-director of the film. "It's not the menacing, evil predator it's made out to be. It's simply performing its crucial role at the top of the ocean's food chain. Great whites are not monsters any more than the polar bears or lions that we revere." The 40-minute film takes viewers around the world to great-white hotspots and examines the animals through the eyes of several people whose lives and work have become inextricably linked to the great white, including shark expert Michael Rutzen, who openly scuba dives among them. October 11-April 3, 2014.

Join millions of real butterflies on an amazing journey to a remote and secret hideaway. Weighing less than a penny, the monarch butterfly makes one of the longest migrations on Earth. Follow the monarchs' perilous journey to the remote mountain peaks of Mexico in this 3D film. For the first time ever, witness the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, inside a chrysalis, thanks to advanced MRI and micro CT scans.
The award-winning production team, including Oscar-winner Peter Parks, followed the year-long migration cycle of the monarch butterflies, from Canada, through the United States to remote 10,000-foot-high peaks in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico.
The film has won numerous awards including the 2013 Grand Teton Award in the category of Best Immersive 3D/Large Format at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and awards at the 2013 Giant Screen Industry Awards, including Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Film for Lifelong Learning, and Best Educational Program.

Bright swaths of vibrant colors transform the Katonah Museum of Art's exterior in its newest outdoor exhibition, "Six Ladders," by artist Andrea Lilienthal. Lilienthal created a series of giant bamboo ladders for the Museum's stately Sculpture Garden that are whimsical and enigmatic; their brilliant colors electrify the natural surroundings.
Five ladders, with their cheerful colors and playful patterns, lean against the Museum's enormous spruce trees in various positions and at different angles. On the building's facade, a sixth, 30-foot ladder extends just short of the roofline - its form and ribbons of color energizing the wall and lending sculptural dimension to the flat expanse. Each of the ladders are hand-constructed from sturdy commercial bamboo, harvested in China, and painted with high-gloss outdoor enamel paint from Holland. Their surfaces are smooth and reflective, in contrast to the course-textured tree bark.
According to Katonah Museum of Art Curator Ellen Keiter, "These are not functional structures - their bottom rungs are too high to mount and the ladders fail to reach the top of their intended destinations. These are instead beautiful works of art; Andrea Lilienthal responds to the inherent geometry of ladders and the repetitive rhythm of their rungs. She finds beauty in their simple, minimalist construction."
"Lilienthal's ladders instill a sense of wonder and suggest that seemingly unreachable goals can be attained," she says.
Keiter explains that bamboo is a hollow-stemmed, woody plant that "bows, sways, and splits, so slight imperfections, even substantial cracks, add distinctive character to each ladder. No two ladders are painted the same, yet their similarly saturated hues coalesce into a lively visual harmony."
She adds, "The bands of luscious color wrap around the bamboo like candy confections, and bright confetti patterns alternate with stark black-and-white designs. A causal link exists between the artificial colors and the natural bamboo. On one ladder, Lilienthal painted white rings around the growth nodes of the bamboo; on another, the nodes demarcate the lengths of painted blue and orange sections."
Says Lilienthal: "These magnificent and mysterious trees [at the Katonah Museum of Art], whose tops are not even visible, dwarf the people and furniture below. In response to their super scale, I chose the ladder, a form with human scale and multiple readings: utilitarian ancient, mythic, and universal. The severe and stately trees support the bamboo ladders in an implied partnership; rooted and stable, the trees assist the ladders in their attempt to ascend. But ultimately, how do you mount an 80-foot Norwegian spruce tree? My answer was to climb it with imagination, affirming our connection to the natural world."
Lilienthal has used bamboo in her artistic practice for several years. In earlier installations, she aligned multiple painted, wrapped, or taped bamboo poles along a wall - works awash in color, but still relatable in size. However, her current exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art is in keeping with the majesty, diameter, and spacing of the giant spruce trees.
Adding to the intrigue of this exhibition are enlarged photographs of the Garden's spruce trees displayed in the Museum's two west windows adjacent to the lone 30-foot ladder. On first impression, the images appear as reflections. In this way, Lilienthal reinforces the relationship between the ladders and the trees while further playing with the viewers' perceptions and expectations.
Historically, ladders carry rich and universal associations. In many faiths and fables, ladders are a symbol of ascent, of travel, of reaching upward. In modern times, they represent progress and growth, allowing us to reach higher than we would otherwise be able to go. Ladders symbolize elevation: from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge, and from the material to the spiritual. They are featured in art from prehistoric cave paintings to contemporary times. Jacob's Ladder, the metaphysical passage between heaven and earth, is mentioned in the first book of the Bible, and is represented in such disparate media as Renaissance paintings and popular
video games. There is a popular African-American spiritual, "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder," Eric Carl's beloved children's picture book, "Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me," and innumerable colloquialisms regarding "the ladder of success."
On view through April 21, 2014 during Museum hours: Sundays: 12-5pm; Tuesdays through Saturdays: 10am-5pm. Closed Mondays.

HVCCA's 2013-2014 exhibition features works that lend themselves to narrative interpretations. The selected artists employ traditional art materials as well as new technology, video, and performance to look to art as addressing the very core of our everyday lives, our "weltanschauung."
In an increasingly fast-moving era, and as explored in "Art at the Core," the world of art and culture bridge artistic disciplines - painting folds into sculpture, sound, light, video, and performance. Performance, enhanced by installation and often video, asserts itself as an art form, not in the narrative traditions of opera with its stage design, but in a contemporary format that defies traditional descriptions.
The eclectic selections from the works of the 23 artists exhibited at HVCCA, bring about a show that is riddled with complexities, manifesting diverse approaches to identity, society, culture, and materiality, and dedicated to the intersection and melding of life and art. See more at hvcca.org/current-exhibitions/#sthash.R8DPX2vt.dpuf. On view through July 27, 2014.

Visit the toy boat-making area on weekends for a fun 20-minute boat-building project. Build and decorate a toy sailboat to take home as a special keepsake of your visit. Saturdays and Sundays year-round.

Bringing home your new infant can be intimidating, especially driving in a car with a newborn. Here's expert advice for new parents who are nervous about driving with infants, including car safety and checking your car seat for proper instillation.

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